When it comes to dropping food on the floor, most of us are guilty of using the 'five second' rule.

But now a germ expert has proved there is some truth to it and while eating food off the flood can never be completely without risk, he said there is little to be concerned about if the food is only there momentarily.

Professor Anthony Hilton from Aston University, will be demonstrating how the five-second rule works at The Big Bang Fair – a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people – which opens on Wednesday (March 15) at the NEC in Birmingham.

“Eating food that has spent a few moments on the floor can never be entirely risk free," he said.

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"Obviously, food covered in visible dirt shouldn’t be eaten, but as long as it’s not obviously contaminated, the science shows that food is unlikely to have picked up harmful bacteria from a few seconds spent on an indoor floor.

“That is not to say that germs can’t transfer from the floor to the food.

"Our research has shown that the nature of the floor surface, the type of food dropped on the floor and the length of time it spends on the floor can all have an impact on the number that can transfer.”

The organisers of The Big Bang Fair hope the demonstrations such as those from Aston University will help young people realise how science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) is everywhere, including when it comes to the cleanliness of our food.

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It comes after their study found 4 in 5 - 79 per cent - of people admit to eating food that has fallen on the floor.

The research revealed that more than half of us (56 per cent) think it’s acceptable to eat food off our own kitchen floors with that number dropping (17 per cent) if eating it off of other people’s floors.